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Tryon Daily Bulletin, Thurs., Mar. 26,1992 Curb Reporter 3 p.m. > n the Fellowship Hall of „ , „ _ _ , Tryon Presbyterian Church. (Continued From Page One) Thc Dum p] in g Valley Trio Lake Lanier Camp to raise will perform at Tryon Pcnte- money for a Girl Scout complex costal Holiness Church Sunday in Asheville. Pisgah Council executive director Linda Rogers was sick and unavailable for comment Wednesday. So we don't yet know her side of thc story. However, if you would like to go ahead and write to her, you may do so at: Pisgah Girl Scout Council, P.O. Box 8249, Asheville, N.C. 28814. A note on thc H. Ross Perot 800 number: Several people have called and said they were unable to get through to Perot's presidential campaign with the 800 number we gave recently in thc Curb Reporter. Perot was on Phil Donahue's show Wednesday morning and gave the same number, 1-800-685-7777, so it appar ently is thc correct number. We have only been able to get a busy signal. However, one reader called and gave another number, 1-800-289-8683. It also has been constantly busy. Perhaps simply opening up the phone lines will be Perot's biggest obstacle in winning the White House. Jacque Minick of Tryon said she will soon have petitions to sign for anyone interested in putting Perot on thc North Carolina ballot in November. What's happening: Thc Polk County Economic Development Commission meets today at 4:30 p.m. al NationsBank in Tryon. Melrose Madness comes to thc Tryon Fine Arts Center Friday and Saturday. Profits from this benefit go to the cen ter's operating costs. Thc Democrat candidates for thc Polk County Board of Commissioners will address thc Democrat Men's Club Saturday at 8 a.m. at Democrat head- quarters in Columbus. Thc World Federalists will meet Saturday at 8 a.m. at the Congregational Church in Tryon. Call Charles Cecil, 859-5532, or Ted Proudfoot, 859-5581, for reservations. Tryon Crafts will open its 23rd Annual Exhibit with a reception at the Tryon Fine Arts Center Sunday. "God's Great Message to Humanity", a free Christian Science lecture, will be given by Geraldine Schiering of Atlanta on Sunday, March 29 at at 11 a.m. On Monday, March 30, thc Polk County Board of Educa tion will begin working on the budget. The board members will gather for dinner at 5:30 p.m. and begin a work session at 6 p.m. at Stearns Education Center in Columbus. Thc Tryon Thermal Belt Chamber of Commerce will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony at Sisters Two in Mill Spring April 2 at 11 a.m. On Friday, April 3 at 4 p.m., Bill Alexander, thc landscape curator at Biltmore Estate, will present a slide show and lecture at FENCE. Tickets arc available at FENCE, Carole's Shoes, and NationsBank. Reservation forms arc avail able for thc Green Blades Gar den Club's Tryon Home Tour from Carole's Shoes. The tour will be held April 8. There will be a Rabies Clinic held in Polk County Saturday, April 25th. Retaining Teachers (Continued from Front Page) the Polk County Community Foundation that should they be awarded a grant they plan to use it for OBE training. Dr. Willard Daggett has been thc primary trainer work ing with Polk County teachers for the last two years. Formerly thc head of curricu lum testing for New York State, Daggett has since August 1991 been Director of the Interna tional Center for Leadership in Education. The Center provides research and consultant services to school systems and industry. When he was first hired, Daggett's fee was $2,500 a day plus expenses, said Supt. James Causby. Daggett's fee since August has been $3,000 a day plus expenses. All consultants' fees this school year have been paid with donated funds, Causby said. Still, Dr. Daggett's fees seem high until one calculates that the cost is less than $50 per teacher, said Associate Supt. Susan S. Leonard, a low price for such in-depth workshops. Administrators say that even if Polk were not totally rewrit ing its high school curriculum, teachers would have to be ^W^e found that four years of (undergraduate college) teacher training does not work, said Dr. Causby. . He pointed out that business and industry spend at least 1% to 2% of their total budget on worker retraining. The public schools provide one 20th or that, he said. Polk County couldnt get along on that meager invest ment anymore. Thc OBE curri culum requires a fundamental change in teaching methods. With OBE, teachers have to be more like business managers. They must plan, guide, lead, assist, and encourage students. And they must work together with other department managers (teachers) to assure a quality product - thc student. "All of our assumptions had to be reassessed," Williams said. As part of that reas sessment process, Polk teachers have been attending semi nars in critical thinking at the N.C. Center for Teaching Tliinking. "We find this is a natural and organic match to OBE," said Williams, who is the director of thc Center. Most importantly, thc teacher's own values, attitudes and beliefs must be reshaped, or when the classroom door is shut nothing will have changed, said Dr. Daggett. "Once you change thc attitude of thc teacher, you change the attitude of teaching," Dr. Dag gett said. "We've reached the vast majority of teachers in Polk County. Look at the work they have done to date." Williams said he believes Polk s teachers have been changing for some time now Over the three years I have been here, I have seen a notice- able increase in the depth of faculty knowledge, awareness and commitment," he said Williams attributes this trans- ’2 ,hc leader ship of & Sl and ““" ^(tt^^ are apprehensive. h'S° met . i ’ ncs it's frustrating because its new, but even that excitmg," said Polk c^Jj English teacher Jane Kinchloe. °/ the s,um bling blocks for teachers has been the uplines ?o Plyi ? 8 diffcrCnl dis ~ OBE cans t „ r b ^^ like writing and critical thinking to be taught in all subject areas 6 "Most people think their sub ject stands by itself," Preston said. And Polk County teachers are anxious about the particulars of student assessment (grading), scheduling, and classroom planning, said Preston. Williams said teachers also are worried that administrators now will base their expectations of classroom performance on high-flying theories, not real life. A recent secret vote by teach ers required as part of the state grant application found 93.5% of Polk's teachers registering approval of the OBE plan. Of the 11 'no' votes, five came from Green Creek, one from Mill Spring, one from Polk Central and four from Tryon Elementary. Kinchloe said she believes that these 'no' votes were tied to the advocacy program. As part of the OBE curriculum, each teacher is assigned a small group of students to counsel. "You can hardly get everyone 100% on the same level," Kinchloe reasoned. "Maybe there are some people with doubts about OBE. That's okay. I've been involved for two years and I have no doubt this will work. There are enough people deeply committed that it will work. "This is my 25th year of teaching, and it's the most exciting thing I've done in edu cation all these years," said Kinchloe. Williams agreed: "The very nature of OBE is dynamic. A lot of folks are more comfortable doing the same-old-same-old." Williams said he hopes that those who are happier in a more conventional program will make a professional decision and seek jobs elsewhere. "You have to shoot for the stars," Williams said, "and if you only make it to the moon, you're better off than you were. C. Wharton Tomorrow the Bulletin ends its series on Outcome Based Education with a look at the annual OBE "revolution." Correction The FENCE walk for hunt ers of Morel mushrooms will be held Thursday, April 2. The time was given incorrectly in an announcement Wednesday.
The Tryon Daily Bulletin (Tryon, N.C.)
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March 26, 1992, edition 1
16
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